MS Roald Amudsen

[jonikal]

We have just been informed as follows regarding our itinerary on the Amundsen from Nome to Vancouver:

 

Our Alaskan consultant has advised us that the US authorities have made additional restrictions on the use of foreign zodiacs within the US boundaries. 

 

Two islands were eliminated from our schedule and replaced by Popof Island which apparently has a port.  We are trying to find out whether this means that there will be no zodiak outings for the entire sailing?  My guess is yes, which would be a huge disappointment since landings and zodiac outings were very much advertised.  A pity that Hurtigruten failed to check this beforehand.  

[SarniaLo]

"additional restrictions" may mean that they were not actually in place when Hurtigruten originally planned the itinerary. But I agree it's a pity.

[clo]

On 9/6/2019 at 3:52 AM, jonikal said:

We have just been informed as follows regarding our itinerary on the Amundsen from Nome to Vancouver:

 

Our Alaskan consultant has advised us that the US authorities have made additional restrictions on the use of foreign zodiacs within the US boundaries. 

 

Two islands were eliminated from our schedule and replaced by Popof Island which apparently has a port.  We are trying to find out whether this means that there will be no zodiak outings for the entire sailing?  My guess is yes, which would be a huge disappointment since landings and zodiac outings were very much advertised.  A pity that Hurtigruten failed to check this beforehand.  

Has Hurtigruten offered refunds.  I would consider that a really big deal.

 

[grayjay]

I have just read that the next two or three voyages on Roald Amundsen have been cancelled due to the fact that she has to be repaired in a dockyard - sorry, no more information has been given so far of which I'm aware of. These are positioning voyages ( for example to Lima and the one prior to that) and it is not yet sure if R.A, can proceed to Antarctica as planned. Passengers due to start their journey have been notified a mere 2 or 3 days before their flight - a huge disappointment for them, of course.

Some of the reviews on cruise forums, as well, show a lot of disappointment. Hurtigruten seems to have raised high expectations - and the prices they asked show that! - but don't seem to be able to fulfill them. It seems that the concept of expedition-like voyages as for example on FRAM and 500 passengers on Roald Amundsen as well as perhaps the brand-new technology somehow don't fit. I still hope these are birthing problems but I'm not so sure any more.

I have also started worrying about our own trip that cost so much and can't be cancelled without a steep fee... A few days ago I have also booked (luckily refundable!) flights...

[SarniaLo]

I had a look at the disappointed reviews. Some issues are down to individual preferences (and maybe some lack of understanding of what an expedition trip is), some are down to teething problems, and some are more worrysome and indicate some real design and functionality issues (such as the size of various public spaces too small to accomodate all the passengers and the disfunctional dining room).

I think RA has started sailing too soon, but it would have been a PR disaster for Hurtigruten to cancel the Arctic season and especially the NW passage. Now they can boast that they were the first hybrid ship to cross the NWP and few people will read the reviews (although it may affect future bookings).

The repositionning and South America trips before Antarctica are not such "high stake" trips so maybe "easier" to cancel from a communication point of view. I truly hope that RA is back in dockyard to try and correct some of the aforementioned issues.

I feel for all the passengers that were affected by these cancellations and I hope the Antarctica trips will be able to proceed as expected. This is extremely disappointing and does not reflect well on Hurtigruten.

[SueBryantCruiseUK]

@grayjay - where did you hear about these cancellations? I'm supposed to be sailing from Valparaiso on Oct 24 and it's proving impossible to get any information out of Hurtigruten. I'm not spending a fortune on gear and medical certificate if we're not going anywhere! Would be grateful for any info.

[Lady Meer]

1 hour ago, SueBryantCruiseUK said:

@grayjay - where did you hear about these cancellations? I'm supposed to be sailing from Valparaiso on Oct 24 and it's proving impossible to get any information out of Hurtigruten. I'm not spending a fortune on gear and medical certificate if we're not going anywhere! Would be grateful for any info.

This is very worrying. We are on an Antarctica trip in January - we were originally booked for Jan 2019 which, as you know, was cancelled. I have been on the live chat on the Hurtigruten website which wasn’t very helpful (why am I not surprised) - just saying the ship was in Norway for maintenance.

 

The live webcam was showing the ship in Norway but that’s gone now.

 

Reading the reviews we were concerned about the disorganisation onboard but now fear there must be something seriously wrong for the ship to go all the way back to Norway.

 

I hope it works out for you.

 

Brenda

[hallasm]

19 hours ago, grayjay said:

I have just read that the next two or three voyages on Roald Amundsen have been cancelled

@grayjay can you please provide link - right now she is approaching Vancouver (scheduled arrival Sept. 27 - according to recent press release naming of the ship will take place in Antarctica November 8th  

 

Recent press release 

The naming is set to take place November 8th, during MS Roald Amundsen’s maiden voyage to the white continent.

 

 

[Lady Meer]

3 minutes ago, hallasm said:

@grayjay can you please provide link - right now she is approaching Vancouver (scheduled arrival Sept. 27 - according to recent press release naming of the ship will take place in Antarctica November 8th  

 

Recent press release 

The naming is set to take place November 8th, during MS Roald Amundsen’s maiden voyage to the white continent.

 

 

The live position link on the Hurtigruten website showing the ship near Vancouver is dated 20 August 2019. Yesterday it was showing the ship in dock in Norway and dated yesterday. That has now been removed!

[SarniaLo]

There are testimonies of passengers with cancelled trips on a social media Hutrigruten group I'm not sure I'm allowed to mention here.
But indeed on MarineTraffic the current position (as of 2019-09-27 12:11 (UTC)) is near Vancouver. This is really weird.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5842449/mmsi:257425000/vessel:ROALD AMUNDSEN

Edited September 27, 2019 by SarniaLo

[hallasm]

18 minutes ago, Lady Meer said:

The live position link on the Hurtigruten website showing the ship near Vancouver is dated 20 August 2019. Yesterday it was showing the ship in dock in Norway and dated yesterday. That has now been removed!

Vesselfinder is showing Vancouver today

Edited September 27, 2019 by hallasm

[Lady Meer]

39 minutes ago, hallasm said:

Vesselfinder is showing Vancouver today

Hurtigruten’s own website showed it to be in Norway yesterday. I did a live chat with them this morning and the operator confirmed the ship was in Norway. This just confirms how disorganised they are. Maybe the operator didn’t know where the ship is!

[grayjay]

The information I had is from a German forum of avid and enthusiastic Hurtigruten fans. Information seemed plausible to me because passengers booked on those voyages were notified that the cruise out of Vancouver to Lima as well as the one to  Valparaiso ( Oct. 10.-26.th) were cancelled.

Rumors said that the ship might be repaired in Seattle and, secondly, there is a huge crowd of travel agents supposed to visit the ship in Seattle. I neither know what is to be repaired nor whether the following cruises will happen - very hush-hush, understandably.

I still hope for all of you booked on Antarctica cruises in November-January  that the naming ceremony on Nov. 8 can take place and everything is ready to start to the maiden voyages into Antarctica waters.

[grayjay]

Yesterday somebody right on board Roald Amundsen wrote that the ship is docked now in Vancouver, Canada Place but no more information was offered.

[martincath]

I was showing someone around Vancouver yesterday who disembarked the ship and asked her how the cruise was - she's not a ship buff so couldn't recall details of the whys and wherefores, but said that what she was told by an officer was that there were too many cabins, not enough restaurant space, and a problem with the chairs in the Science Centre sliding violently in even moderate seas(!) that were to be addressed in drydock ASAP, necessitating canceling at least one of the subsequent cruises.

 

So apparently there will be a pretty extensive drydock for such a new ship to remove some cabins and increase restaurant size (I assume this must be on Deck 9, where the Lindstrom resto does have cabins immediately adjacent), and either buy new chairs or modify the existing ones to increase friction on their feet.

 

That's all that she was able to tell me, and of course it's from one passenger who heard it from one officer so even if it was reported 100% correctly HQ may have different ideas, especially given the rather odd situation of a brand-new ship needing modification before it even has its official naming ceremony!

 

Given that RA is still parked at the pier this morning - at least it was c. 10am - there's definitely a problem locking down a dock for the work to be done, as Vancouver is one of the most expensive piers to sit next to (compulsory to plug in and pay for shore power, powerful Longshore union that will be charging OT to have someone around in case the ropes need tightened on this unscheduled stay, even if they aren't actually loading or unloading pax or supplies) so they are bleeding money all over the place.

 

Not sure why it isn't moored offshore where they can drop anchor, or sailing around in circles, for free - my only thought is that they are negotiating for a spot in North Van (there's a more than big enough dry dock, as we've had many much bigger Princess, HAL etc. worked on) so if they get one it will save a few hours by just having to steam across the harbour...

[Lady Meer]

On 9/27/2019 at 9:29 AM, SueBryantCruiseUK said:

@grayjay - where did you hear about these cancellations? I'm supposed to be sailing from Valparaiso on Oct 24 and it's proving impossible to get any information out of Hurtigruten. I'm not spending a fortune on gear and medical certificate if we're not going anywhere! Would be grateful for any info.

 

When Hurtigruten cancelled our trip for Jan 2019, they paid back everything we claimed for - flights and hotels, etc. As we re-booked we didn’t claim for clothes as we would use them anyway. We didn't need to claim anything from our insurance. 

 

If they cancel us again, we will seriously consider booking again.

 

Brenda

[jonikal]

We just disembarked from the RA in Vancouver.  The ship will be undergoing dry-dock there in order to repair a couple of issues including the thruster - this info came from a Hurtigruten sales agent that boarded the ship in Sitka.  Another report said that there was some problem with the propeller.  This is totally Hurtigruten's typical way of non-communication with passengers and therefore no surprise to us. The crew will be staying onboard for the duration of the repairs which are said to take about one week.  I have prepared notes on our Nome to Vancouver voyage which I will submit in the next couple of days for the ship review.  In the meantime, if anyone has any questions regarding the ship itself, I will be happy to answer if I can.

[BearsAhoy]

On 9/27/2019 at 5:15 AM, SarniaLo said:

There are testimonies of passengers with cancelled trips on a social media Hutrigruten group I'm not sure I'm allowed to mention here.
But indeed on MarineTraffic the current position (as of 2019-09-27 12:11 (UTC)) is near Vancouver. This is really weird.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5842449/mmsi:257425000/vessel:ROALD AMUNDSEN

 

We live in Vancouver and had wanted to go see the ship when docked at Canada Place yesterday, but just couldn’t arrange it. However, was in the area today with one of my sons and checked Marine Traffic to see what ships would be in. We were surprised to see Amundsen in, since the port schedule showed that it was to depart at 20:00 yesterday. We decided we’d go to have a look after lunch, but as we came out of the restaurant, my son pointed out that it was pulling away from Canada Place. We watched as it headed towards the dockyards on the North Shore, rather than out of Port.

 

We were puzzled, but couldn’t find any information as to why it was still in port today and going to the dockyard, so of course I had to look on CC.

[jonikal]

On 9/27/2019 at 9:08 AM, grayjay said:

 

Rumors said that the ship might be repaired in Seattle and, secondly, there is a huge crowd of travel agents supposed to visit the ship in Seattle.

 

 

Just to clarify, the 300-person reception that is being held for travel agents and local big-wigs and attended by, inter alia, CEO Daniel Skjeldam, was to be this weekend in Vancouver.  There was never any mention of the ship going to Seattle. But then with Hurtigruten one never knows.

[grayjay]

The passengers supposed to board in Lima were just simply told a few days ago that the journey was cancelled - no more information since then from Hurtigruten. They are waiting for days now for further information that was supposed to come later - they had booked B2B and of course wanted to know whether to re-book or cancel their flights , whether and when they'll be refunded because everything was fully paid etc.

Does anybody know whether the 300 travel agents and officials were allowed to board the ship in Vancouver?

I just hope everything goes well from now on after that drydock and that all journeys can take place .

[jonikal]

I have checked the local papers in Vancouver and social media and have not found any reporting on the 'big reception' what was scheduled to be held in port after our arrival on Sept 27. Perhaps because they had to get the ship into dry dock, the event was either postponed or cancelled?

[KateDB]

According to news report today (Sept 30), including one at Forbes.com, there must have been some kind of media event today onboard the ship in Vancouver (where it is still docked).

 

We were booked on two back-to-back segments starting with the Oct 10 departure from Costa Rica, which has been cancelled. We booked through a third party, and they were notified of the cancellation by Hurtigruten on Friday and called me on Saturday. However, it seems from the posts above that other people knew a few days earlier.

 

We have been told that the second segment is still a go and we can meet the ship in Valparaiso, Chile on Oct 27 to go to Antarctica. However, I'm not holding my breath that it will actually happen!

[SueBryantCruiseUK]

@KateDB I sincerely hope that sector does happen as that's the one I'm on! I'm sure they will operate that one as that's the cruise that ends with the naming in Antarctica. I haven't been told of any cancellations, but then, I'm not being told anything. Strange times. Hope to see you on board!

[SueBryantCruiseUK]

Actually I have done some digging now and it's all becoming clear. There was a trade reception in Seattle and then they all got to see the ship in Vancouver. The ship is staying there for 'technical adjustments' and then dead-heading down to Valparaiso for the maiden South America/Antarctica voyage.

[SarniaLo]

Official response of Hurtigruten on the social media group I was mentioning earlier : " Hi Everyone! MS Roald Amundsen is currently undergoing a short, unscheduled stop in Vancouver, Canada for technical adjustments and maintenance. This stay regretfully lead to a cancellation of the voyage from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, to Valparaiso, Chile, 10.Oct. to 26.Oct. 2019. All guests have been notified. We do not expect this short technical adjustment to affect any upcoming voyages. "